Melodies of Light
by LockePhilote
Summary: Xion, Axel, and Namine start a band with the other members of the Organization XIII. Except... most of them use their elemental powers as instruments. Xion/Axel pairing, Namine/Roxas, more pairings as it grows.
1. Chapter 1

Melodies of Light

Chapter 1: Xion

**NEW STORY! WOO HOO! TOLD YOU GUYS ID HAVE ONE UP! … of course, it's a really short chapter, but… don't judge me. … this week wasn't the best of times to be writing for me. Finding out your uncle has less than a month to live… well , anyway, here is the new story : ) **

"If music be the food of love, play on" William Shakespeare in the Twelfth Night

_ It all began on one dark summers day, the dark demeanor of the eternal thunderstorm that lurked outside the castle's walls punctuated by the occasional burst of lightning, the thunder and the rain a percussive metronome for the shrieking runs of the howling wind from the piercing flute and piccolos of the air being blown through the narrow and winding streets of the City that Never Was to the sorrowful brass of the wind through the many tunnels of the city. It was a symphony of storm, a medley of maelstrom, a threnody of torrent. It was _

_ Within the Castle, a girl of about fifteen clothed in a robe the color of the space between the stars with raven black hair and a slight frame sat on a window sill, her arms wrapped around her knees, her head resting on her arms, her cloudy blue eyes staring absentmindedly out into the infinite horizon that was the storm. Her thoughts were of a shy, sad, philosophical nature, with such questions as What is the Meaning of Life or Why do I Exist or Are My Memories Real popping up quite often. Her name was Xion. _

_A huge wave of thunder, like a crescendo on a cymbal, filled the air as the tempo of the rain and thunder accelerated and accelerated. The howling of the wind became more and more rapid and began to gain a sort of frantic beauty to it. The music of the storm broke Xion from her reverie, only to trap her in a new one, her mind enthralled and enraptured. And suddenly… it hit her. If the storm outside could create a piece of music that sounds suspiciously like Hikari, then why couldn't the Organization XIII using their inherent powers over the elements? She leapt up from her seat and ran off to go tell her best friends Roxas and Axel of her glorious new idea, not realizing the musical adventure which was about to unfold…_

**Told you it was short. Im not sure when the next chapter will be up for this one, though I do know that the final chapter for Sanctuary will be up this week. Adios my friends : ) **


	2. Axel

**Hello : ) I know this chapter is a bit late, but once I started writing it, I couldn't stop lol. Well, here is the second chapter of this rather weird story. **

Chapter 2: Axel

_In a corridor in the Castle that Never Was walked a man around whom the air crackled with passion. It enveloped him, an aura of emotion, an eternal flame of love. His hair was a spiky trap of layered vibrant red, and somehow remained spiky without the use of hair jell, as any flammable liquid that touched him would have turned into a substance reminiscent of napalm, and having napalm attached to one's head is about as pleasant as having Xigbar making innuendo's about how large his "rifle" is and how accurate he is with it at a Christmachanukwanzukah party (a party for both Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanza) or attempting to tell Saix that he is not a werewolf as, despite his numerous oddities that come out with the full moon, he doesn't transform into a wolf. _

_This man had a rather peculiar posture, hunching over at almost all times as if he was walking against a strong wind on a snowy street in Alaska. Over his almost anorexically slender frame he wore the traditional black overcoat of those of the Organization XIII and others who travel through the Corridors of Darkness. His eyes were a piercing, smiling emerald green, holding within their gaze a glimmer of joy and laughter that never manages to burn out, no matter how sad the man may get. His fingers were long and slender, the fingers of a pianist. The man's name is Axel, and he was no ordinary man. He was a Nobody, one with no heart, only body and mind. _

_Anyway, he walked along the corridor, his thoughts focused on a paradox that Zexion had told him: if anything is possible, than it is impossible for anything to be impossible, which is impossible, as anything is possible, which… etc. It was enough to make him desperately want a drink, or at least something to burn. Maybe even both, as a liquor bottle is basically a Molotov cocktail without the gasoline and the rag, and Axel knows where to get gasoline for 2 cents a gallon. _

_Unfortunately, that comes at a price. Every time he Corridors into the world of Final fantasy VII, where they have gasoline out the ass as they used Mako for everything, he also is welcome to a complimentary ass kicking by Reno. Now, when I say ass kicking, I mean… extremely brutal ass kicking. As in Axel had to eat out of a straw and be shocked on various parts of his body by Larxene to make sure that he hadn't suffered any nerve damage. Whenever Reno sees Axel in the world of FF VII, he… goes berserk. However, in any other world, Reno is fine with seeing Axel, so… I blame Sephiroth, that Freudian existential mamma's boy. I mean, really, Sephiroth basically has sex with Jenova. Hell, the very thought of that would even make H. P. Lovecraft throw up a little in his mouth, and Lovecraft created Cthulu, the creature with tentacles for a face that mentally and physically rapes people. So… yah._

_Anyway, as Axel was deep in thought over that paradoxical question of possibility, he did not hear the pitter pattering of running footsteps from behind him, nor did he see the source of those footsteps leap into the air behind him, but he most certainly felt the jolting impact of that mysterious figure landing on his back. He also felt himself lose his balance and fall down the unfortunately placed flight of stairs, the mysterious figure, whom Axel had by now figured to be somebody related in some way to Sora, clinging to his back for dear life. _

_They both might have died that day if it hadn't been for the convenient presence of one Demyx sleeping on top of one sleeping Snorlax at the bottom of the stairs. The Snorlax had been a gift from Vexen to Demyx, as it was the only thing that he could think of that was lazier than Demyx and wasn't legally supposed to be in a high school somewhere or named Sora. Vexen had captured it when he traveled to the land of Pokemon to try and convince Ash and Misty to start dating. … One too many Pokeball innuendos and a few kicks to the region alluded to in those innuendos later, and he was back at the Castle, the injured state of his … Pokeballs… paling in comparison to the vast amount of new subjects he had caught there. So many, in fact, that he had decided that some of his excess subjects would make excellent gifts to the members of the Organization on certain holidays. This was especially handy during that one memorable December last year when it was suddenly revealed that Xaldin celebrated Kwanza and that Xemnas was Jewish. Being able to quickly clone ultra cute, ultra powerful creatures to give to your sadistic colleagues is a definite benefit when in the Organization XIII, though giving Xemnas eight different Pokémon was like giving Sora candy. Eventually, in both situations, you'll end up covered in some mysterious substance that may or may not be barf, watching in stunned horror as magical chaps and destruction is unleashed upon the poor, helpless world. _

_ Anyway, Axel and the mysterious figure landed directly on top of the poor Snorlax, right next to Demyx, and then… due to the rather flabby nature of the Snorlax, Axel and his companion bounced right over poor Demyx and landed on the floor in a heap. Now, that would have been the end of that little misadventure, except… they sort of landed in a ball shaped heap. And the floor leading up to the stairs was more a ramp than a floor. So… they rolled. _

_They rolled and they rolled and they kept on rolling till they reached the bottom of the ramp. However, the bottom of the ramp was nothing more than a platform, as the ramp continues onward, heading in the complete opposite direction from which Axel and his companion had came. Thus, if it weren't for the presence of a railing along the sides of the platform, they would have probably have died. As it was, the impact against the railing, combined with the various other physical traumas experienced in the events leading up to the collision with the railing, were enough to leave Axel with a body battered to such an extent that being dragged behind an 18 wheeler on the highway for a mile may result in less injuries. In other words, the floor had kicked the crap out of him. _

_Another result of his merry little "trip" and impact was that he was rather dazed for a minute or so afterwards. He probably would have laid there in a fog, occasionally groaning, if not for the gentle moans that were sounding directly in his ear. He opened his eyes and found himself lying face down on the floor. He felt a soft weight on his back as well as the slight tickle of someone else's breath on the back of his neck, in time with the moans he was hearing. Given the pitch of the moans, Axel now knew for certain that his mysterious "attacker" was in fact Xion. A second after this realization, Xion moaned again, in a tone that suggested that she was just as injured as Axel, if not even more so. _

_Axel, being, well, Axel, was inherently ninja. Thus, he was able to use his feet to spring off the ground, do a flip in mid air, and come back down in just the right position to catch Xion before she hit the floor. He gazed down at her with concern in his eyes, checking to see if she had any broken bones, which she did not. She appeared to be more dazed than he was, almost unconscious. He took a step forward, not realizing that there was a slight puddle of dazed drool in front of him. He slipped and flew up into the air. During his flight, Xion flew out of his arms. Axel landed flat on his back with a loud " oof". Xion landed right on top of him, her nose just barely missing his face, softly grazing his cheek instead. Her gentle breath once again blew across his face. Her lips were only mere centimeters from his own and suddenly Axel felt warm for reasons that had nothing to do with the fact that he could shoot fire out of any part of his body he damn pleased, a power which resulted in some pretty interesting consequences one day after he ate a bowl of curry made from peppers 270 times hotter than Jalapenos. Let's just say that some of the wasteland in Hollow Bastion wasn't wasteland until after Axel's curry experiment._

_ He had always had feelings for Xion as a friend, but this… this was something else entirely. He felt a sudden urge to kiss her, to hold her tight against him and never let her go, to … before he could think anymore on the subject, the object of his confused desires came to. Her eyes sprang open like a kangaroo leaping into the air. She glanced down at him and immediately blushed._

_ "… Hi" he said in an awkward tone of voice._

_ " Hi…" she replied, her face still a scarlet red that would make a rose proud. They both lay there awkwardly for about a minute or so of silence, their eyes locked for some reason. Then, Xion spoke._

_ " … so… um… I had this idea earlier… we should start a band with the rest of the Organization! Between all of us we have enough musical talent for three bands, and we would become even more famous than we already are while bringing enjoyment and entertainment to people. What do you think?" _

_ Axel was absolutely stunned for a moment. … An Organization XIII band? … hmm… that would be very interesting. … very interesting indeed._

_ " … Im in" he said._

_ A broad smile lit up Xion's face._

_ " Great! Youre the best Axel! Ill go ask the others what they think!" she said in an excited voice, and then, much to the surprise of Axel, leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. She then jumped off of him and ran off in search of the others, leaving poor Axel lying there trying to figure out his extremely confused feelings._

**Well, that's it for this chapter folks. I know the ending was a bit… eh, but I kind of wrote myself into a hole with it. I just couldn't stop typing lol. This was originally supposed to be about 800 words. Its now around 1900 lol. Anyway, I should have the next chapter up within the next week or two. My living room is being painted so all my free time this week is going to be spent moving furniture instead of writing : ( well, adios for now and please review : )**


	3. Auld Lang Syne

**Hey guys. … I know this is really late. Im sorry. I… I have no excuse except that I've been a bit busy, but mostly I have been a bit lazy. At least until the past week or so, during which I hammered out the entire philosophical context of this chapter. **

**Without further ado, I present to you what you have been waiting for… the chapter! : )**

Auld Lang Syne: Part 1

Xion ran a desperate sort of running that only occurs when a person is running not only from something physical, but from something within themselves as well. A few tears streamed down her face and flew past her wildly swaying hair, gleaming droplets of silver in the white halls of the citadel of the Organization XIII, blending in to the austere décor yet also at the same time managing to stand out from the rather monotonous shades of white as the tear showed emotion, which the color white of the walls and ceiling and even the floor was severely lacking in. And what emotion those tears contained, for there is nothing quite so tragic as the half joy filled, half broken heart of a girl who shouldn't exist in the first place and feels that her every breath is a mistake, her every move a burden on her friends, her every emotion a feeling she was undeserving of, as she had no right to exist, at least in her own mind.

Her mind was a whirlwind of these undeserved emotions, confusion and angst and sorrow and joy and contentness swirling around in a huge typhoon of mental anguish, icy cold raindrops of self hatred buffeted by the arid gusts of despair, twirling round and round til she felt she couldn't endure anymore, yet endure she did, as dealing the unknowable horrors that life held in stock for her was a daily occurrence in her continued existence. Xion had always been the type that could shunt off her true emotions and deal with them later while focusing on the task at hand. Each new question she uncovered about her genesis, her identity, her place in the world, only filled her with more resolve and depression, a potent combination of emotions when in the right hands, and her hands by far were the hands most suited to the task of turning that crude oil of emotional fuel into high octane nightmare fuel for anybody who messed with her or her friends, or sometimes even for use on her friends. One particular incident which comes to mind was that rather remarkable day, Roxas's 357th in the Organization XIII, when fate and the political manipulations of the Organization forced them to fight to the death. Xion lost that fight, and was killed by Roxas in front of the clock tower in Twilight Town. The whirlwind in her head turned into a maelstrom, her thoughts a whirling, existential mess that left her feeling light headed nausea and rather shaky on her feet, not to mention the rest of her body as well, as the memories of that day swelled into her head, a s;pw;y rising flood of remembrances rather than a vast tidal wave of the past.

. Memories of Roxas cradling her in his arms as her breathing became more and more labored, each breath grating against broken ribs, attempting to talk to him and explain to him what must be done despite the fact that every passing second more and more of his memories of her disappeared to the point where he couldn't even remember her name, the encroaching void of darkness a giant sloth swallowing her thoughts making the previous task all the harder, her legs slowly turning to crystal as the world began to fade away, and then… a moment of complete clarity as she passed into the darkness. In her final moments, her life did not pass before her eyes. Instead, she looked into the eyes of her friend who was more a brother, the friend who had to strike her down so that he could achieve his destiny, and she saw … recognition. In her dying moment, he remembered her. A soft whisper arose from his lips, the last sound to grace her ears before she departed from that world and into another.

"Xion…"

The final thing she felt was not the gentle coolness of the air around her, slightly buffeted by a light breeze, nor the silky feel of the trademark (see note at the end) Organization XIII long coat against her slight frame, nor even the comforting yet odd sensation of Roxas's warm, gentle hands against her back. The last thing she felt was instead a single drop of crystal starlight, a teardrop full of all the emotion that a nobody with no heart to feel with could summon, and… as it slowly dropped from Roxas's eye and fell to impact against her cheek, all she could think about was… Axel.

What little thought her brain, which was in the rather distracting process of dying and/or crystallizing, could muster at this point was on him, his radiant green eyes, his spiky, yet somehow mysteriously soft hair which was the color of the child of a cherry and a tongue of flame, the way he slouched as he walked. Half remembered memories, carried on the whispers of the waves and the breath of the wind, of the tender way he held her in his arms after she collapsed during a mission one day, the concern and fear and pain in his eyes as he gazed down on her, the way he softly, gently carried her through the corridor of darkness back to the World That Never Was, into the citadel of the Organization, an austere gleaming of lines and angles, a tragic home for six whom have sacrificed their very hearts and emotions for the complex simplicity of science, a new beginning for those seven who have fallen to the encroaching stain of inky blackness that is the Heartless yet somehow possessed the strength of will and mind to live on without that vital element of human interaction, and perhaps the most mercurial sanctuary ever imagined for a single girl. His steps echoed and were echoed by Roxas's, whose echoes echoed the echoes of Axel's steps. A presence of cold, unfeeling insanity, touched with a hint of cruelty, yet without any maliciousness or evil to it, just a sadistic, unemotional insanity. (note: That night was a full moon). Saix. Saix yelling. Axel yelling. Roxas yelling. The silent sound of a keyblade being summoned. Then… a sudden, jarring clarity for a single moment in time, as if the cruel fate which had brought her to her knees suddenly decided that the shit that was about to go down was important enough that Xion had to listen to it. Or maybe it got bored with torturing her with the bits of confusion, fading in and out of consciousness, lack of coherence, all that good stuff that are the perfect ingredients for one stormy hell of a confused migraine, an anarchic state of thoughts that occurs when a person's brain is too confused and incoherent to piece things together, yet still coherent enough to gather information and for each individual part to work on its own, but not in tandem.

The result was a whole range of conspiracy theories, ranging from Saix was an alien to Axel was her lover (present day Xion laughed a sad, quiet laugh at that, as the tears softly flowed down her cheeks. Who could ever learn to love a beast?) to Kingdom Hearts was made of cheese and the moon orbiting around a certain planet called Gaia by some ancient culture or another, probably the Greeks, was actually made of the peoples hearts that had been ripped out of their bodies by creatures whom are all heart. Needless to say, the surprising clarity, jarring as it was, was a welcome respite from the horrid state of mind that was her while passed out. The very fact that she is able to think while passed out is testament to how messed up her brain has become. Anyway, back to the moment of clarity. Axel slowly, surely, walked up to Saix, each footstep a metallic click like the tick of a clock, the sound of an impending mortality, a promise of doom and hellfire, a fate worse than death all contained within the rather small package of the metallic clicking of his heels.

"I don't care what you think of her, except to feel a small memory of pity whenever I look your was as you will never see her as more than a puppet, a tool, while I know she is much, much more than that. However… if you harm her in any way… I will end you, Saix. I will end you. Do you understand me? I don't care what we had in the past, she has been through two and a half times the amount of shit that she deserves, and I will not let her go through anymore without putting up one hell of a fight. Once they have begun to spin, the cogs of fate cannot be stopped nor reversed." Axel … said in a cold, quiet voice that burned hotter than the fierce flames of the sun on a bright Agrabah and with a passion equal to the fire of ten billion stars. It's a mark of a true believer in a cause or person not when they proclaim their passions loudly to the world and show the flames on the outside, but when the fires of belief burn on the inside, a testament to the fact that holding an ideal within ones heart, letting it infuse ones very soul, so that though they may say little about the secrets within their hearts and what their true beliefs are, every word carries a million times more meaning than a million words from that poor person who is constantly blabbing about their true beliefs. Various questions on whether Nobodies can even have feelings aside; this is perhaps the most important moment of Xion's life. Somebody cares. …. Somebody cares about her. She was crying on the inside, though not on the outside as the clarity of the moment faded away into the emotional blur of the sad heart of a teenage girl finding out that people really do care, that when they say they love you, they can actually mean it. That they actually can find something to love within you. The world shattering revelation, as well as the aftershock of exactly whom the person was that showed her this wonderful truth about life, followed her thoughts as she drifted back into unconsciousness, about fifteen seconds later.

She came to about fifteen minutes later, lying on her bed in her austere room, her head still filled with thoughts of the fact that somebody, anybody could care, when she cracked her eyelids open by a rather microscopically small amount and realized that Axel and Roxas were standing over her, softly, intently speaking to each other, yet she could tell that they were also watching over her, protecting her, making sure she was all right. She quickly closed her eyes so they would not realize she was awake, as from what she had been able to piece together from what little bit of conversation she had overheard, they were talking about… perhaps the oddest topic of all time, a topic to which there really is no answer. The topic, of course, was: does one necessarily need to have a heart in order to love?

After a few seconds of intent listening, Xion learned a second dose of rather shocking items of news. Despite all appearances on the outside, … Axel was a little bit, nay, a lot of an idealist on the inside. He… in spite of all his cynicism, he actually believed that nobodies could love, that somehow, someway, it was possible, despite the fact that they are missing a heart. Just as surprisingly, Roxas, instead of being his usual slightly idealistic self, instead argued the exact opposite, that Nobodies cannot feel anything, that one without a heart cannot love, only experience memories of it. (note: Xion has her eyelids cracked open a bit, just enough to see Axel and Roxas's facial expressions without them noticing she was awake and halting their rather interesting disagreement )

Axel argued that if that were the case, then how can both of them argue so passionately about this topic, especially Roxas, considering that he did not have any memories from before his creation, thus how can he argue passionately without any memories? Roxas counter argued that the feeling of passion was experienced not in his actual memory, but in the memory of his spirit. After all, even if the mind forgets, the spirit remembers, as seen with ghosts remembering things that there live selves had forgotten and forgotten they had forgotten years ago. Axel refuted this with her, with Xion, stating that she was one of the most emotionally aware and controlled people he had ever met, and she was a nobody/replica, meaning she had no spirit that had previously inhabited another body like a Somebody, thus her spirit would have no memories of emotions to fall back on. Roxas made the mistake of countering with the idea that the memory of emotion is inherent in all spirits, whether they have inhabited another body, one with a heart, or not.

Axel smiled grimly, a smile that would have been quite a bit more proper on a personification of the Grim Reaper than on his rather ferociously calm face. He then stated that "if that is the case, then wouldn't the spirits be creating the memory of the emotion all on their own without an actual memory? Is that not technically what feeling is?"

However, Roxas had one final ace up his sleeve. "What if", he riddled Axel, "what if the spirits of each individual were themselves not individual, but… linked somehow? As in the emotional memories of one are shared with all the rest. Would that not explain the rather curious ability that is empathy, along with explaining how Nobodies can "feel" without actually feeling? They rely on the emotional memories of other spirits without actually creating feelings for themselves. However, there quasi state of feeling is determined by how much of an empathetic connection their spirit has, thus those like Axel, Demyx, and Xion who are much more empathetic spirit wise than say a Xemnas, Saix, or Marluxia will exhibit and "feel" much more emotion than the latter group."

"Then would not that mean that all emotion among anyone ever is robbed from the emotional memories of the spirit of, say, God, or a god like figure who created the memories for every emotion to ever be at the very beginning of time", argued Axel.

Roxas shook his head no, stating that that would complicate things way too much. "By applying Occam's Razor, which states that the simplest solution is the one most likely to be correct, Roxas argued that instead the emotions are created by the heart, with the memories on the spirit being like etchings made on the sand by a hot breeze from off the desert, a shadowy remnant of the force that created it. The emotions that nobodies feel are nothing more than the shadows that remain when one with a heart has an emotion. Nobodies are nothing more that emotional vampires, unable to create thus having to steal, abusing the natural process of empathy and turning it into something… tragic, a perversion of a thing of beauty, yet an unintentional perversion born of an unfortunate reality. Life requires emotion as its sustenance, and thus will obtain it in any way it can, be it creation, empathy, or… suicide even. If there is no god and one ceases to exist after death, then at least the suffering of not being able to feel is over, and if there is a god, then at least in heaven or hell you are forced to feel love or hate by the ruler of each."

Axel looked as if a rebuttal to that claim by Roxas, but for some reason he refrained from speaking it aloud, as if speaking the words he was about to speak would greatly alter the universe in a profound and dramatic way, as if he was truly afraid of the effects and consequences his words will have. After a moment, however, he seemingly found a compromise within himself, a way of saying some of what he meant without causing the consequences that he foresaw.

"Can a Nobody experience love then?", Axel's question, innocent enough on its own, was betrayed as having a deeper meaning by the dangerous gleam in his eyes.

Roxas, a rather pug dog like look on his face, the result of sensing that Axel had somehow set a devious bastard of a trap for him, yet unable to see a way of avoiding its jaws, plunged right into its teeth filled maw with his answer. Yes and no. They can experience it, but it is not their own to feel. All they are feeling is the aftermath of the love of a somebody, a second hand emotion. They cannot genuinely love anything, as they are unable to form the emotion for themselves.

Axel smiled a tight little smile, and then launched into his argument. First, he asked Roxas another question: Are nobodies sentient? Roxas, still very wary of Axel's intentions for this line of argument, considered the question for a moment, and then slowly, carefully responded with two words: "Define sentience".

"In this case, sentience is the ability to perceive both physical and abstract concepts, as well as being in possession of a consciousness" answered Axel, grinning slightly in victory. It is generally thought that sentience means the creation of feelings, while in actuality it is only implied. Sentience is basically a level of intelligence that enables one to understand the world around them, to make connections, to think, all of which stems from perception.

"In that case, … yes." Roxas stated hesitantly, his stomach sinking into a rather uncomfortable pit that was seemingly filled with both warmth and ice, causing him to shiver slightly.

"Ok… and are we in agreement that sentience is mainly based off of perception and understanding, along with thinking?" asked Axel, his eyes smiling a dazzlingly roguish gleam of a smile that seemed to say "checkmate, bitch".

"… yes." Said Roxas, calming down a little. Where the hell could Axel possibly go with this? He found out approximately five seconds later, and he was rather… unhappy about it, to say the very least.

"Ok. Now, is not love dependent on what a person perceives of another person? Meaning that each and every individual will have to have their own unique love, as no two people have the same perception or are perceived the same, correct? Now, in the case of nobodies, we have decided that they can experience love, correct? And as love is based off of perceptions of another, and is thus unique, would that not mean that the love that nobodies experience is unique due to their individual perceptions?"

Throughout the entirety of this rather philosophical conversation, Xion listened intently, shocked time and time again by the similarity of both arguments to her own thoughts, as if they had somehow heard the discussion taking place within her head and decided to not only reenact it on the outside, but to also carry it to its full extent. The echoes of her thoughts were spoken through their mouths.

However, it seemed as if fate had already decreed that she was not to hear Roxas's reply, as at that very moment, the most annoyingly ironic of things had to happen. It started with an odd sensation, which turned into a tickle, which turned into an almost burning feeling deep within her nostrils, which caused her to wrinkle her nose, as if attempting to run away from the unpleasant feeling. Relief came a few seconds later, but at a rather steep cost. She sneezed a large, nay, gigantic sneeze, the recoil of which was powerful enough to lift her into a sitting position, ending all possibilities of further conversation, as the suddenness of it all had caused both Roxas and Axel to jump no small distance into the air. The peculiarity of the event caused them to immediately collapse on to the floor with laughter when gravity took its toll on them and they landed with a small thud. Xion felt like dying from embarrassment, her face blushing to a nice scarlet red. Roxas and Axel slowly picked themselves up from the floor, wiping a few tears from their eyes as the last chuckled were released from their throats.

"Oh god, Xion, you scared the hell out of us sneezing like that. Are you all right? How do you feel now, any better?" asked Axel, concerned for her well being.

With that memory playing out before her inner eyes, Xion passed from the world.

And then… she came back.

Some how, some way, a certain somebody by the name of Sora did the impossible and revived every single one of them, every nobody of Organization XIII, every keyblade wielder trapped within his heart, every replica… everybody.

After sacrificing one's heart to save the only person whom really ever mattered in this dark, cruel abyss of a universe that sentient beings call home, and surviving, undoing the side effects of such is … still really hard, actually. But more on that at another time, in another place, in another story.

Back in the present day, Xion sat alone, arms wrapped around her knees, tears streaming like tiny, brilliant rockets down her face, gentle sobs racking her body, an aura of the unyielding dark that is despair surrounding her. She sat there like that, lost in thoughts and dreams and memories and the depths of sorrow, for a minute, a millennium, 5 seconds, ten thousand centuries. For her, then and there, time had no meaning.

Then… Demyx entered the room.

Note. By trademarked, they mean quite literally trademarked. In every world the Organization finds, they copyright, trademark, patent, invent, and improve the coat. This led to one of the most infamous legal battles of all time when they found the world that the Matrix takes place in, as there is really only room for one long coat wearing group on a world. Despite the best efforts of the organization, they could not stop the Matrix sequels from being made. Another infamous event surrounding these coats is that rather unfortunate Christmas party where the entirety of the characters from Final Fantasy came to the World that Never Was. All the characters who were wearing long coats were sued, which was a good ninety percent of them. Booze plus lawsuits plus swords and magic equals a rather odd battle, so odd in fact that King Mickey and Riku and even Ansem all came to support the Organization in their fight against their drunken foes. Apparently Final Fantasy characters plus booze plus lawsuits equals super strength and god like magical abilities, as well as a rather pissy attitude towards anybody that happens to be suing them. Xemnas, while a master of strategic planning and very knowledgeable on the subject of the human heart, did not see this coming in the slightest, and in that aspect he really cannot be blamed. Nobody could have predicted that Cloud and Squall and especially Yuna would be the violent, loud, angry type of drunk who somehow gains super strength from alcohol. So, my good readers, what lesson does this fictional anecdote glean? Sake, or any type of alcohol at all, will give anime characters, as well as some otaku, super strength, godlike magical abilities, and anger, depression, angst, legal, and (oddly) erectile issues. So if you ever see a drunk anime character or otaku, run like something worse than hell or even daytime television was after you, as even Satan is afraid of anime characters with alcohol problems, especially Auron. That time Hades brought Auron back to life to kill Hercules still has Satan repeatedly crapping his pants to this very day, as Satan always stops people from being brought back to life without some sort of devilish trickery or binding legal contract. However, for some odd reason, his magilegal powers could not affect the katana wielding bastard. Even scarier is the fact that it was Auron, not Hades, who was causing his powers to lose effect. Apparently, being badass enough to come back to life from pure force of will to complete a mission, yet still being able to drive teenagers insane with vague answers to questions of life changing importance, is perhaps the scariest thing of all time.

**End of Part one**

**Yep, part one folks. You read that correctly. **

**More is on the way. **

**I thank what readers are still with me after this massive delay for reading. Please review guys!**

**Part II should be out within three weeks. **

**Hopefully.**

**Till next time, readers, adios.**


	4. Heart Station

**Dear Readers**

**Sorry this is so late Since I last pdated, I have been so busy with school, extra curriculars, and sorting out the rather interesting applied forms of tragedy that my friends call life that I have had little time to write. Also, ive been lazy : ( Over the past few days, however, I finally had time to work on this story to my hearts content. I was a few hundred words away from completion when suddenly… my motherboard gets shorted. So… here it is. The new chapter.**

**Chapter 4: Heart Station**

Demyx entered the room, unsure of what to expect but knowing that whatever he found, it was sure to be something rather unpleasant, like… something not horrific, not terrifying, but… that combination of disappointment, unrest, and sorrow that comes from knowing that you give a damn about somebody and knowing that that person could not be made to see that until all of the pain and heartbreak had been suffered through. When it came to Xion, however, this took on a whole new meaning. Xion… ever since she died, she… had change. In order for her to come back from the dead, she had to regurgitate every single memory that she had inherited from Sora at the same time, experience them as vividly as he had when the memories were formed simultaneously, causing Sora's heart to react with a rather strong force. This is where Newtonian Physics comes into play. For every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction, and since reactions are caused by forces, it can be concluded that for every force, there is an equal and opposite force. Now, this is only a general sketch of things, as the exact opposite force depends on the exact situation, and even the equality of it comes into question as forces do not have to be in equilibrium, in fact, it is only when they are out of equilibrium that things actually happen. However, for this case, let it be given that the forces were in equilibrium, equilibrium being total balance between two forces (force x = force y).

Now, the force that Xion's memory binge fired at Sora's heart was the Mental force, or the force that keeps Nobodies going. Its opposite in all but a few cases is the Force of the Heart, or what keeps the heartless living. In naturally existing things that are still living, however, these forces are in equilibrium. Thus, when Xion's mental outburst reached Sora's heart, it responded in kind with a burst of Heart force equal in strength, yet totally opposite. However, since the heart force was coming from a living thing, it also carried life with it. Life, however, is not a force, as it has no opposite. It is more like an object with momentum, going continually forward in the direction it wants to until acted upon by a force. The opposite of life is the lack of life, not anti life. The beam of Heart force that Sora fired back at Xion was a force that acted on some of Sora's life momentum, redirecting it towards Xion. Thus, when the Heart force hit Xion back with all the strength of the Mental force she had sent at Sora, the life with in it, being momentum, traveled forward until it was acted on by namely the Mental force that gave Xion shape (lacking a physical frame, Xion kept in existence by unconsciously exerting Mental force in directions around her center of consciousness, keeping equilibrium with the forces pressing in around her. However, she gained such control over her mind during this time that she gained the ability to very slightly throw herself out of equilibrium, making the mental force pushing out ever so slightly stronger than the forces pushing in on her, meaning that when the life arrived, it encountered a force that acted upon it, causing it to accelerate in the relatively negative direction to the extent that by the time it was on her center of consciousness, it was also at rest).

Thus, she was infused with life again, and came back into being in Castle Oblivion, her birth place. Except, she wasn't exactly herself. By the time she had die, she had been introduced to all but one type of love. The love that was friendship she was well versed in and Roxas had taught her well of that special kind of friendship based love that existed between siblings. Her knowledge of romance came from some select experiences with Riku and Axel, as well as memories inherited from Sora of him and Kairi and the feelings that Sora held for her. The one brand she had not experienced, however, was that seemingly required love that existed between parent and child. All of the loves she had previously encountered were voluntary, while the love between a parent and child is more just… there. It doesn't form, like all these other brands of love. Instead, it exists from the very first moments between parent and child. While this is all very fine and good for the parent and the child, when it is introduced to someone like Xion via a very intense series of memories, who had before this point never even considered the concept that some loves are required, it can be life shattering. Deep within her, so mind bogglingly deep within her memory that Namine had no clue they even existed within Xion, lay a few memories of Sora and his parent, starting from birth and going up to the what Sora felt for them on that fateful day that the Destiny islands was torn to shreds by the heartless, with a few random occurrences of the absolute unfairness of life in that one has to love ones parents even during the times when one absolutely hates their guts. They, however, came to light with the rest of Sora's memories during the process of rebirth.

When Xion experienced these memories, the idea that love can be an involuntary, required thing shook her to the core and in a very subtle way, forced doubt into her entire life. Did her friends love her as a friend because they wanted to, or because they had to? What about her feelings for her friends? Did she have a choice in those? Or is that too involuntary? At first, no one noticed the changes in her, the slight lack of confidence, the unwillingness to go against a friend in an argument, small stuff like that. Eventually, however, as this new and strange idea became more and more pervasive throughout her thoughts, until it came to the point that her sanity became at risk. Without anything to be sure of in the present, her mental state changed in two quite fascinating, and heartbreaking, ways. The first way she majorly changed is that her actions became a bit more random, except… they didn't. Though her actions appeared random, they were all designed towards one goal: to inflict the worse emotional pain possible upon herself, to gauge her own reactions in terms of love to other people, to test whether it was required or not, to see after how much abuse she would stop loving people. Thus, she acted on her whims, and kissed Axel. Secondly, she discovered that the only place she could truly have confidence in her friends and in herself was in her memories from before she died. Thus, more and more, when she was herself and her subconscious, which was what controlled her random behavior, was not causing her to do something random to attract attention from Axel so that he would hate her and destroy her emotionally, she got lost in her memories, using them as a barrier between her and the pain that her actions brought her. Despite their often tear jerking content, they were the only things to give her hope, the only things to make her feel even a bit better, as she had begun to doubt whether her friends tried to comfort her because they wanted to, or because they were required to, and thus all their attempts at soothing failed her. She was almost entirely without hope, without anything except this sense of doubt about everything. She anticipated the day when she would slip into that final oblivion of nonexistence that would accompany her second death, her true death, as to set her friends free from being required to love her as a friend.

Or so Demyx theorized over the course of the weeks and months following Xion's rebirth. He could be wrong, but for some reason, he had a feeling that that wasn't the case, that he was right on about was plaguing his friend. And thus… he began to form a plan to help her, a plan that, if enacted perfectly, would not only free Xion from this torment and assure her that her friends were her friends by choice, nut It would also bring her and Axel together as a couple. It was obvious to him the feelings that existed between the two, and he was more than willing to play cupid for them. They deserved each other.

As he prepared himself to enter the corridor and put his plan into motion, he thought for a moment about the existence of true love. Then, he entered the corridor.

**Done : ) **

**I don't know what else to say but this. No idea when next chapter will be up, so don't ask. Be thankful I got this one up : )**

**Please Review : )**

**Forbidden, Ill review your stories tomorrow night after I am done visiting colleges. Elen, just hope you can read this : )**

**Oh, and Matt… hi : )**

**Till next time, my friends, adios. **


	5. Demyx

Chapter 5: Demyx

_Well… I'm back. I lost track of how long its been since I last posted. All I know is… its good to be back. I have no explanation except for business, sadness, and laziness. Anyway… here it is : ) _

Demyx entered the room and time returned, her tears slowing, if not quite stopping. Despite Xion's most "heart"felt wishes that he, and everyone else for that matter, would leave her alone, he slowly moseyed on over towards her, till finally he was standing above her, his eyes glimmering in a way that surprised and slightly scared her. It was that slight glimmer that comes not from pity, nor even sympathy, but rather the resigned feeling of "God fucking damn life and all its intricacies, as if it were not for them, I can help you".

"… Demyx" she spoke, her voice hardly above a whisper, yet that was enough for him to hear the confusion in her voice. He smiled a sad little smile at that. Xion was the sort who never realized how much she meant to others, that others could choose to love her instead of being forced to by fate or genetics or authorial meddling.

"Hey, Xion. Mind if I sit?" he asked, a glimmer of the smile making its way not only onto his face, but also into his voice.

A flat, neutral silence was her response and continued to be her response throughout the rather short process of him sitting down and getting comfortable. She turned towards him, a slightly puzzled expression on her face.

"Demyx… why are you here?" she asked in a soft, clear, yet still confused voice.

"To help. … I know what you feel for Axel… and… I want to help." he replied, reaching into a pocket deep within his robes, searching for something, something that in proper time and the right hands could change the world, if but given the chance to…

"… but… why? And… how do you know?" she asked, stunned. Of all the people in the Organization, Demyx was the one she most expected this off. He was always the caring one, the nice guy who truly meant no one any harm… unless they touched his sitar, of course, but that is an entirely different matter. However, he was also one of the best at psychologically analyzing people in the Organization, with Zexion being the only one who could out match him on account of his years of study in multiple fields, including psychology. However, Demyx runs purely on empathy, on the "vibes" he perceives from other people. Dying had changed him, however. He was a lot less cowardly now, and let his easy going personality cover up a lot less of his natural sharpness or empathy as a result. He was still the same old nice Demyx that everyone knows and loves (or not, depending on how one views the argument between Axel and Roxas two chapters ago (AN: I recommend rereading the last two chapters at the very least)), except he now ditched the cover of lazy dopiness that allowed him to hide the fact that he had some serious brains on him.

She was surprised, however, at the fact that he was here now. How could he have known what happened? How could he have known to come here? Exactly what does Demyx know? How much does he know about me, the real me, the me that no one could ever willingly love? The questions raced through Xion's head like a paper airplane caught in a tornado, spinning round and round in a spiral of confused despair.

"… I kind of ran into Axel a minute or so after that kiss of yours. It wasn't hard to figure out what happened, or why. Everyone forgets I had a doctorate in psychology as well as music before I started experimenting with fiddling and lost my heart to the heartless. " Demyx answered, a sheepish look on his face, his hand still searching the extraordinary amount of pockets for the object that could turn this situation around*(See AN at bottom).

Xion had stopped listening after the word Axel.

"How was he? Did I hurt him? Does he hate me? Does…" questions poured out of Xion, raining down in a torrent few mere rainstorms could ever hope to match, let alone best.

"He doesn't hate you. He's like more stunned than anything. I found him just staring off into space, and man oh man when he does that it means something is really going on inside his head. Last time I saw him this spaced out was the day you were revived, actually. He was mulling something over in his head, but dude whatever it was he never let slip. I think it's safe to think it had something to do with you though." Demyx interrupted, his voice soft and thoughtful, with a dash of comforting added in for flavor. Then his expression changed, and grew more distant. "There was something in his eyes… like he had taken a bite of the truth, and the taste was more than he could deal with. A dance was playing in his mind that he would never dance."

A ghost of a smile lived in his eyes at that moment, but Xion did not notice. She was too lost in absorbing this new information to notice much of anything about the world around her.

"… He was thinking something over about… me?" said Xion softly, and for a second the glint in her eyes changed, and something deep in her broken heart mended, and the world seemed to be filled with a bit more light. Then, the moment passed, and again the world reverted back to its state, the motes of hope that had brightened her life gone, dust in the gentle breezes of time and life. A dark realization lit up her face.

"He kissed back… " she whispered to herself, to the wind. He felt… something for her, that much she was now sure of. What he felt, she had no idea. But… he kissed back.

"What does it take to tell someone they are dearly beloved? How much courage is needed to look someone in the eye and tell them truly what is going on, what is truly happening in ones heart, how one truly feels, how much one truly gives a damn?" Xion asked distantly, suddenly, her eyes gazing somewhere, back to a time when the cerulean skies had been more than just distant memories, when all that was hidden within her heart and the hearts of others had been laid bare, and everything, for better or for worse, made sense.

"… I don't know. Maybe people just need a little… push, something to let them know it wouldn't be in vain, spilling out their heart." Demyx said, unable to hold back a smile from blossoming onto his face for a second, before forcing himself to replace it with the stoner look that was more appropriate for the situation, or at least would be in Xion's eyes. He finally found what he was looking for in his jacket.

"Here, take this. It might help" said Demyx as he pulled a slim, short metal rod out of his coat. Xion peered at it for a moment.

"A piccolo?" asked Xion, shooting a confused glance at Demyx. What the hell was he talking about? How would a piccolo help her now?

"hmm… who do you think will be best suited to playing a piccolo? I was thinking Namine might be a good choice." Demyx mused, a

"Demyx… what are you talking about?" Xion asked, the confused expression still on her face.

"You really did forget, didn't you. Remember what you said to Axel when you landed on top of him?" Demyx asked, smiling.

"… the band." Xion said in a low voice as exactly what Demyx meant sunk in. then the _other_ meaning sunk in as well, creating quite the tasty pile of meaning in her mind. "You mean…" (forgot to add this in previously. Xemnas would not allow her to form the band unless she got Demyx on board with the idea.)

"Yep. What better way than via a band? Everyone knows that sexual tension Is always the highest between band mates, I'll be there to help, and im sure we can sign Roxas and Namine on to help with both the band and Axel." Demyx said, grinning. Using Xion's band idea to make Axel admit his feelings for her… it could, should, _would_ work. It had to work. For Xion's sake.

"… Demyx… I could hug you." And she did. _This is it. I can't believe I didn't think of this before. This is it, my chance. If he doesn't have feelings, or he doesn't want to have them… well, I'll go into the darkness willingly. _

*AN: Demyx's jacket has many more pockets than the average Organization XIII jacket for a few reasons. Foremost among them is that he is the reconnaissance specialist in the Organization. He needs the pockets for his telescope, binoculars, extra snacks, etc. He also needs to carry arpund equipment for the maintenance of his instrument/weapon, extra sitar strings and the such. Finally, well, he does need some place to stash his "oregano".

_**Well, that wraps up this chapter. Pay special attention to the last sentence. It will be of importance later on. **_

_**Read and review please : )**_

_**Fuck, it is good to be back. **_


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